Improvement in needle for knitting-machines



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

RANSOM ALLEN, OF SALEM, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT lN NEEDLE FOR KNlTTlNG-MACHIES..

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 80,264, dated July 28,1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RANsoM ALLEN of Salem, in the county of Washtenawand tate of Michigan, (.post-oflice, Northville, Michigan,) haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Knitting-Machine Needles; and Ihereby declare the following to be such a full and exact descriptionthereof as will enable others skilled in the art to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form apart of this specitcation, in which- Figure 1 shows a needle with myimprovement, with the hin ged shank in working position. Fig. 2 showsthe same with the shank turned back out of working position. Fig. 3shows the saine invention applied to the body of a needle when such bodyis made of sheetsteel, and the hook and working part of the needle aremade separate, and soldered or otherwise fastened to the body of theneedle. Fig. 4 is a plan of the same device shown in Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of thedrawings.

a represents the body of a knitting-machine needle, having a shank, b,hinged or pivoted to it, so that such shank b may either be in theposition shown in Fig. 1, and thus be acted upon by the cams of aknitting-machine, or the shank may -be turned back, as shown in Fig. 2,when the cams of the knitting-machine will pass over the needle withouttouching it.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple plan by which anyportion of the needles in a machine may be made inoperative withoutremoving the yarn or loops from Such needles.

By this arrangement I 'am enabled to knit upon any portion of the row ofneedles While any other portion of the row remains inoperative, and itis especially useful in machines made under J. W. Lambs patents ofSeptember 15, 1863, and October 10, 1865.

For example, with ordinary needles,.when knitting a glove upon the Lambknitting-niachine, the loops must be thrown ott' of all the needlesexcept sufficient for one linger while such finger is being knit, andthen the loops for another finger must be picked up as to the needles,and such finger knit, and the same operation continued until all theiingers are done; while with my needles all the Shanks are turned backexcept those of the needles that are to be employed to knit a particulariin ger, such finger is knit, and then the Shanks of the needles to beemployed for the next finger are turned forward into working positionand the next linger is knit. The same operation is repeated until allthe n gers are knit, and thus a mitten or glove may be wholly f1nishedupon a Lamb knitting-machine with my needles without removing thearticle, or any part of it, from the machine.

If desired, the shank-Stem may extend back of the rivet e, by which itis connected to the body of the needle, as shown by the dotted lines inFig. 1, and then the Shanks may be turned up sufficiently to be out ofworking position by a suitable mechanical device acting upon the rear orextended ends of such Shanks.

The plan shown in Figs. 3 and et I think preferable when the machine inwhich they are used is so constructed as to permit of the employment ofthe same, as it makes a stron ger needle, and one that is more durable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as ne w, and desire toSecure by Letters Patent, is-

The movable shank b, attached to the body of a knitting machine needle,and operated substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

RANSOM ALLEN.

Witnesses J. W. LAMB, C. B. Pos'r.

